AUGUST 04, 2017 - CUYAHOGA VALLEY MONTHLY TOWPATH TRAIL CENSUS. ROUTE: Merriman Valley north to Red Lock Trailhead. TIME: 6:05am - 3:40pm TEMP.: 71 ~ 84 ~ 67 COND.: Clouds/sun mix until 6:40am; turning overcast with light sprinkles from 6:40am - 7:50am; cloudy until 8:20am; light sprinkles again from 8:20am - 8:30am; cloudy again until 9:25am; brief thunderstorm from 9:25am - 9:35am; warming up and partly sunny from 9:40am - 12:45pm; turning cloudy again with another brief thunderstorm from 1:00pm - 1:05pm, then sprinkles until 1:20pm; mostly cloudy until 2:35pm, then another thunderstorm from 2:35pm - 3:25pm, then sprinkles until the end. TRAIL COND.: Wet, portions with fresh-laid crushed limestone from Botzum lot to Ira Rd. turning very "soupy" from the rain. RIVER COND.: Extremely low, excellent visibility with many rock and sandbars exposed. FT.MI.: 13.63 OBS.: John Henry & Douglas W. Vogus. I. MAMMALS: 7 SPECIES. 1. Little Brown Myotis - 2 2. Eastern Cottontail - 4 3. Eastern Chipmunk - 6 4. Woodchuck - 1 5. Eastern Gray Squirrel - 1 6. Red Squirrel - 3 7. White-tailed Deer - 1 (doe) II. BIRDS: 66 SPECIES, (New Census High for August - previous was 64 in 2016), 574 TOTAL BIRDS, (Lowest Total Birds on August Census). (NOTE: m = male; f = female; ? = bird was seen but not sexed; * = bird was heard calling but not sexed) 1. Canada Goose - 23 2. Wood Duck - 38 (15m,20f,2?,1 juvenile) 3. Mallard - 10 (6m,1f,3 juvenile) 4. Common Merganser - 4 (f - flew north up the river from Stumpy Basin, landed in river between Stumpy Basin and Turnpike bridge and started diving in the rapids there - First August Record on Census) 5. Rock Pigeon - 9 6. Mourning Dove - 12 7. Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1 8. Chimney Swift - 14 9. Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2 (f) 10. Killdeer - 5 11. Spotted Sandpiper - 2 12. Solitary Sandpiper - 2 13. Great Blue Heron - 5 14. Green Heron - 5 15. Turkey Vulture - 4 16. Osprey - 1 (east of Ira Beaver Marsh flying over the Cuyahoga River - Tied Census High from 7 other occasions) 17. Cooper's Hawk - 1 (m - First August Record on Census) 18. Red-tailed Hawk - 1 19. Belted Kingfisher - 1 (m) 20. Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 (1?,1*,1 immature) 21. Downy Woodpecker - 3 (1f,2*) 22. Hairy Woodpecker - 4 (1m,1f,1?,1*) 23. Northern Flicker - 4 (*) 24. Pileated Woodpecker - 1 (*) 25. Eastern Wood-Pewee - 7 26. Acadian Flycatcher - 2 27. Willow Flycatcher - 2 28. Eastern Phoebe - 8 29. Eastern Kingbird - 5 30. Yellow-throated Vireo - 2 31. Warbling Vireo - 6 32. Red-eyed Vireo - 11 33. Blue Jay - 15 34. American Crow - 7 35. Tree Swallow - 15 36. Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 4 37. Barn Swallow - 39 38. Black-capped Chickadee - 13 39. Tufted Titmouse - 11 40. White-breasted Nuthatch - 8 (2m,6*) 41. House Wren - 1 42. Carolina Wren - 12 43. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 3 (2?,1*) 44. Veery - 1 (First August Record on Census) 45. American Robin - 20 (8 immature) 46. Gray Catbird - 19 47. European Starling - 2 48. Cedar Waxwing - 10 49. House Sparrow - 19 50. House Finch - 2 (1m,1f) 51. American Goldfinch - 23 (10m,1f,3?,9*) 52. Common Yellowthroat - 11 (8m,3f) 53. Hooded Warbler - 4 (1m,1 immature m,1f,1*) 54. Yellow Warbler - 2 (1m,1*) 55. Eastern Towhee - 5 (4m,1f) 56. Chipping Sparrow - 1 57. Song Sparrow - 27 58. Swamp Sparrow - 2 59. Scarlet Tanager - 1 (f) 60. Northern Cardinal - 33 (18m,7f,5*,3 juvenile*) 61. Indigo Bunting - 7 (6m,1f) 62. Red-winged Blackbird - 13 (3m,10f) 63. Common Grackle - 34 64. Brown-headed Cowbird - 3 (juvenile - 1 being fed by a Red-eyed Vireo, 1 being fed by a male Hooded Warbler) 65. Orchard Oriole - 1 (f) 66. Baltimore Oriole - 1 (m) Unidentified Passerines - 7 III. REPTILES: 4 SPECIES. 1. Common Snapping Turtle - 3 2. Red-eared Turtle - 4 (First August Record on Census) 3. Midland Painted Turtle - 33 4. Eastern Spiny Softshell - 5 IV. AMPHIBIANS: 3 SPECIES. 1. Gray Treefrog - 3 (heard only) 2. Bullfrog - 2 3. Green Frog - 4 (heard only) V. FISHES: 5 SPECIES. 1. Goldfish - 2 (First August Record on Census) 2. Common Carp - 2 3. Creek Chub - 29 4. Common Shiner - 8 (First August Record on Census) 5. Largemouth Bass - 21 (about a 1-pound female with about 20 fry) VI. BUTTERFLIES: 7 SPECIES. 1. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - 3 2. Cabbage Butterfly - 11 3. Summer Azure - 2 4. Red-spotted Purple - 1 5. Monarch - 1 6. Silver-spotted Skipper - 1 7. Least Skipper - 1 (First August Record on Census) Douglas W. Vogus - Akron, Ohio. ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]